It’s not often you get to meet one of life’s true megastars, so it’s little wonder Barry Hayles and Chris Coleman did double takes when Michael Jackson arrived at Craven Cottage during their time at Fulham.
Coleman made 136 appearances for the Cottagers after arriving from Blackburn Rovers, with chairman Mohamed Al Fayed paying what was then a club-record fee of £2.1 million for his services in 1997.
Hayles joined Coleman the following year from Bristol Rovers with the club plying its trade in the third tier of English football.
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Fulham enjoyed a successful 1998/99 campaign but one of the season’s more bizarre moments came before Wigan’s April visit to Craven Cottage, a match the Whites would win 2-0 to tee up promotion days later.
“There was a knock on the dressing room door and in walks Al Fayed,” recounts Hayles. “He’s going, ‘Right lads, put your willies away, as we have a visitor!’ Just behind him is Michael Jackson. We couldn’t believe it.”
Neither could Coleman.
“I can remember looking at this fella and thinking he was the image of Michael Jackson, but then I thought, there’s no way...’,” recalled the Welshman. “But it was. I remember looking down and thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, his feet are massive’.”
Armed with Al Fayed’s money and vision to bring Premier League football to Craven Cottage, Fulham were promoted three times in five seasons and returned to the pinnacle of English football for the 2001/02 season.
Coleman ended his playing career with Fulham in 2002 after being involved in a serious car crash before beginning life as a manager with the Cottagers when he took over from Jean Tigana in 2003, but few memories will likely live longer in the memory than Jackson’s surprise appearance.
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